Every now and then a writer gets a gift: a tale complete from beginning to end, wrapped up in a box, tied with a pretty bow, deposited on the doorstep of his or her subconscious. All that is required is a willingness to open the door, unwrap the box, release the world within and do your best to transcribe that world into word.

When the Fever series arrived on my doorstep I was shocked to find so much Thanatos in my Eros. I'd been writing romance novels for years, and had enjoyed every minute I'd spent with my Highlanders and the women who stole their hearts.

The world that came in the Fever box wasn't pretty like my romance novels. There were monsters in every corner, people dying, everyone was keeping secrets, all the characters were too flawed to be heroic, and there was no traditional romance to be found. The protagonist was a virtual-Barbie with little ambition or interest in the world around her, and about as far from my personality type as the sun from the moon.

I sorted through the box, hunting for the elements I recognized as the trademarks of my writing, wondering if the Fed-Ex Story Idea Guy had gotten the addresses mixed up again. He does that from time to time. Every now and then he seems to think it's funny to drop one of Stephen King's boxes on my porch. Things move around under the cardboard, and the noises they make come from the dark night of the soul. The few times I've been suckered into opening one of those misplaced gifts, I've duct-taped the box securely, propped a chair under my doorknob, and refused to go out on my stoop again until it was gone.

"There are only two themes worth writing or reading about" writer F. Gonzalez-Crussi says, "love and death, Eros and Thanatos."

When I was thirteen I had two reading experiences that changed my life and shaped the writer I would become. I picked up Harlan Ellison's Deathbird Stories from the library of the Catholic Academy I was attending--the irony is apparent if you've read the book--and one of my aunts gave my mother a box of romance novels.

Eros and Thanatos. Love and Death.

Both came in the Fever box left on my doorstep, in a more fascinating blend then anything I'd tried to write before.

As my imperfect protagonist walked me through the craic-filled, historic Temple Bar District of Dublin and introduced me to her world, I was riveted by the tale of an ordinary, flawed young woman thrust into an extraordinary, terrifying dark world where the heroes and villains looked startlingly alike.

I followed her into the Dark Zones--parts of our cities taken over by deadly Shades that no longer appear on any of our maps, although you might stumble into one around the next corner if you're not careful; deep into underground labyrinthine caverns where monsters of the worst sort dwell--the kind that lie within us all; and eventually into the most treacherous place known to Man--Faery, with its irresistible illusions, lethal seductions and killing lies.

I couldn't close the box. Which was probably a good thing--there was no return address on the package, and I haven't seen the Fed-Ex Story Guy since. I don't think he'll be coming around again until I'm done.

Sometimes you don't get a choice. A story shows up on your doorstep and stalks you until you tell it. You do your best and hope the passion you feel for it brings it to life in your reader's mind as vividly and thrillingly as it exists in your own.

Welcome to Mac's World.



What inspired you to launch a new series? And what is the single greatest new twist in the Fever series that fans can expect to enjoy?

Inspiration is a kind word. I didn't have a choice. It's the story idea that came and wouldn't go away. I think the single greatest new twist in the Fever series is that Mac is a continuing heroine, on a critical mission, who gets caught in a dangerous love-lust triangle with two of the most seductive men I've written to date.

If you were casting the Fever series for television, who would be the ideal actress to play Mac? Why?

That's a tough one. I don't watch much television and what I do see is after the DVD's have been released, so I'm woefully out of date. If backed to a wall I'd say Mac is one part George from Dead Like Me, one part Sara Pezzini from Witchblade and one part sweet southern belle who's being forced to discover there's steel under all that magnolia, after all.

You write vividly sexy scenes. You write thrilling suspense plots. Do you find any one part of crafting these novels more challenging then another?

I find them equally challenging. The suspense plots have to be tightly constructed and seamlessly interwoven through the five books of the Fever series, which makes for a lot to keep up with, what to reveal, what not to reveal, how and when. The sexy scenes are very intimate and I don't shy away from detail, which demands both total immersion and separation of self to write. There are scenes in this series that are far more disturbing than seductive and those are among the most difficult to write. I hope if I'm squirming, wanting to rescue Mac, so is my reader.

Were you surprised at any point in the writing ofBloodfever meaning did anything come up in the creative process that was not what you anticipated when you began Darkfever, the first novel in the series?

In Faefever, the third book of the series, Mac says: "Sometimes my dreams feel so real it's hard to believe they're just the subconscious stroll across a whimsical map that has no true north. Sometimes it seems like Dreaming must be a land that really exists out there somewhere, at a concrete latitude and longitude, with it's own rules, laws, treacherous terrains and dangerous inhabitants." (She later finds out The Dreaming does, indeed, exist.)

I feel the same about the Fever world. It's so complete to me, so vividly and exactingly detailed that I think it must really exist out there somewhere. Since the story came to me in toto, there have been very few, minor surprises.

If you could stand in a room with your heroes, the men from any of your novels not just the Fever novels--who would you most like to interview yourself? Why? What of the women?

Men: The Unseelie King. He's rumored to be a million years old. I want to know if he's sorry.

Women: Queen Aoibheal. I want to know if she's really forgotten, or if she's just pretending.

Describe your writing routine when composing the Fever novels.

The location varies but the schedule is the same. I write best in the morning when my subconscious is still simmering with images and metaphors from dreaming. I wrote Darkfever in Georgia, and Bloodfever in Key West; all that sunshine was a nice counterpoint to the darkness of the story. I start early in the morning, usually around 4:30 or 5am and write until 11am, break for a two hour lunch and go back to it around 1pm. I use the afternoons to edit and work on other aspects of my business. Before I go to bed I block out the scene(s) I plan to write the next day so my subconscious can mull them over while I sleep.

When you aren't writing you novels, what are you doing for fun? And what kinds of books or which authors are your favorites?

Lately a lot of lying in the sun. I'm still in Key West and I'm afraid Mac has rubbed off on me, or maybe it's all the Jimmy Buffet they keep playing down here. Usually, however, I'm not so sedentary. I love to work out, hike, bike, rollerblade, shop with my sisters, and travel with my husband and our cat, Moonshadow. I don't get nearly enough time to read. The most recent books I finished were the latest by Dean Koontz, Stephen King, Charlaine Harris, and an early Dan Simmons.

And can you share a little sneak peek at what's coming after Bloodfever?

The darkest hour is before the dawn. It isn't dawn yet.